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Volume CXXXIII, Number 2 |
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BFS presents crazy Adaptation
DAVIN MICHAELS
COLUMNIST
This weekend, the Bowdoin Film Society brings to campus one of the most critically-acclaimed films of 2002: Adaptation. This film, directed by Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) and written by Charlie and Donald Kaufman, received four Oscar nominations, including best actor (Nicholas Cage), best supporting actress (Meryl Streep), best screenplay (the Kaufman brothers) and best supporting actor (Chris Cooper). Cooper ended up wining the Oscar for his portrayal of a toothless orchid hunter.
In the tradition of Malkovich, Adaptation leads us through a mind-bending journey, transporting us inside the head of a screenwriter and his identical brother. In the film, Charlie Kaufman (Cage) tries to adapt The Orchid Thief, a book written by Susan Orlean (Streep), a task that seems impossible because the book has essentially no plot; it's just about flowers. Kaufman ends up writing himself into his screenplay as a screenwriter struggling with writing about flowers.
In the meantime, Kaufman's twin brother Donald (also played by Cage) is writing a ridiculous action film. He pokes his head in every once in a while and a while to comment on his brother's crisis (and to confuse the hell out of the audience).
Orlean ends up falling in love with a redneck orchid hunter (Cooper) who sells his rare orchids to collectors. Cooper does an amazing job in the film, providing an essential twist to the plot and keeping the audience interested. In the end…well that's for you to see and find out. The audience ends up on a roller coaster ride through the increasingly paranoid and crazy minds of the characters as they all struggle with this adaptation of life to an artistic reflection of life. This movie promotes a great deal of discussion about reality and fantasy and the gray area in between.
Essentially the film was written by the real-life Charlie Kaufman, but it gets more complicated. It is, in effect, Kaufman writing about Kaufman writing about Kaufman. The movie does an excellent job establishing interesting and engaging characters, and plays with the audiences' minds enough to keep them on their toes.
The Film Society we hopes that you join them for this weekend's screening
of Adaptation on Friday and Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in Smith Auditorium
of Sills Hall.
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